Stories from Thursday, April 23, 2009

Ardis Rittenberry was named Professional Woman of the Year at the 16th annual Professional Women's Luncheon Thursday. Wayne Hix presented the award to the long-time geometry teacher and National Honor Society sponsor at Shelbyville Central High School, known affectionately to her students as "Ms. Ritt."...

Shelbyville Central rallied for five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but it was a little too late as they fell 9-5 to visiting La Vergne on Senior Night. La Vergne scored six runs in the fourth inning thanks to a number of errors, passed balls and a few timely hits...

Kerry G. Simmons, 60, of Shelbyville, died Thursday at Centennial Medlcal Center in Nashville. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hillcrest Funeral Home with the Rev. Gaylon Dawson officiating. Burial will follow at Willow Mount Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday.

Cascade celebrated Senior Day and rounded out their regular season home schedule in proper fashion by banging out 11 hits to defeat Huntland 12-8 on a gorgeous Wednesday. Seniors Josh Brown and Chase Nunley have both been on the team five years, while Kyle Mullins is competing in his first season as a Champion. Over the last four years, the program has a combined record of 107-28-1...

They say that coming close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The Community Vikings found out for themselves in a 7-6 loss to Culleoka that not only is the old adage true, but that a close loss, particularly this late in the season, can be very hard to swallow...

In December 2007, the man who watches over the area's water source said that half of it was gone. But as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, it's all back. And Doug Murphy, director of the Duck River Agency, wants to keep it that way. For the first time in nearly three years, Normandy Lake has reached its summer pool of 875 feet above sea level, but as soon as that level was reached, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began to release water from the dam. ...

It's official -- the Tennessee Shakespeare Festival will be returning to Bell Buckle -- but you don't have to wait until June to get a taste of the Bard. Webb School students are putting on "Twelfth Night" tonight, Friday and Saturday in the chapel on campus...

Shelbyville Central let one slip away, but the loss wasn't too costly as the Eagles are still guaranteed an opening-round bye in the upcoming District 8-AAA tournament. Leading 4-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Eagles (16-7, 8-3 8-AAA) saw host Lawrence County score two runs to claim the 5-4 victory and end Shelbyville's 12-game win streak...

With fingers crossed, the sounds of splashing should be heard at the city's recreation center on May 4. That's when Shelbyville's pool is planned to reopen following two weeks of work that began Sunday, according to Pam Henry, aquatics director for Shelbyville Recreation Center...

To the editor: Recently the Argie Cooper Public Library placed a call to the Shelbyville Fire Department when an employee found smoke in the lobby. Commander Robert Wessner and firefighters arrived within seconds to do a thorough search of the entire building...

Pitchers Leigha Carter and Cassie Wanamaker matched each other pitch-for-pitch to post 54 straight outs without allowing a single run. Eventually, something had to give and Carter's Cascade teammates came through with a pair of scores in the 10th inning to help the Lady Champions to a 2-0 win over District 9-A host Boyd Christian on Wednesday...

Clyde B. Burks, 79, of Shelbyville, died suddenly Wednesday at Harton Regional Medical Center in Tullahoma. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Doak-Howell Funeral Home.

Shelbyville Central's track team had a strong showing in last week's meet with Columbia, Coffee County, Lincoln County and Warren County. "Like night and day, this team as a whole stood up to the challenge of four visiting schools and responded exceptionally well," said Shelbyville coach Ramon Lanier, comparing the effort to another meet versus Riverdale and Antioch where Central did not place first in any events...

Harris Middle closed out the regular season with a 14-11 loss to visiting Franklin County North Wednesday afternoon in a Central Tennessee Conference matchup. After a slow start, the Golden Eagles (5-7, 4-6 CTC) rallied for five runs in the fourth and three in the sixth, but it was too little, too late...